A Life for a Life
by The Devil's Girlfriend
Summary: Everyone knows that a mother will go to any lengths to defend her children. When a young apprentice is taken prisoner by a band of rogues, will this mother give up her freedom for her daughter's life? *Oneshot *All OC


**AN:** **For anyone reading Blind, I'll update as soon as I can figure out what to do in this next chapter. If you have any suggestions, feel free to PM them to me or whatever, because I have no clue what to do. :)**

Pinelight lay outside the warriors' den, sharing tongues with Riverwind. The two she-cats chatted idly about unimportant bits of gossip as they soaked up what little warmth could be pulled from the thin leafbare sunlight that washed over the camp. Pinelight's ears pricked up suddenly as a yowl broke the still, chilly air. The scent of blood filtered into her nose as she turned toward the camp entrance. The bramble tunnel shuddered for a moment, before Snowfang staggered through. Her white pelt was torn and stained crimson and her eyes were glazed with pain. As the white she-cat collapsed on the frozen ground a few tail-lengths from the entrance, Poppyclaw limped in after her. She was leaning heavily on the shoulder of Dewclaw, who had been guarding the camp.

Junipersun was summoned and he quickly went to work on the warriors' wounds. Phantomstar bounded over from the Highledge, his eyes wide with alarm. When he demanded to know what had happened, Snowfang looked up at him with bright, slightly unfocused eyes.

"Poppyclaw and I had taken Speckledpaw out on hunting patrol. Since prey has been so scarce, we decided to try our luck over by the abandoned Twoleg nest. We hadn't been out long when we were ambushed by about six cats." Phantomstar's tail lashed in distress and anxious murmurs rose amongst the crowd that had gathered. Pinelight was watching her leader carefully, her eyes wide and fearful.

"Clan cats?" he asked tersely. Snowfang shook her head, still looking a little dazed.

"They didn't have a scent that I recognized," she responded.

"Rogues." Phantomstar's grim tone was met with even more muttering from the gathered Clan. He flicked his tail for Snowfang to continue.

"We tried to fend them off, but we were outnumbered and they had the element of surprise. When we were fleeing, one of them grabbed Speckledpaw and dragged her away. There was nothing we could do…" Pinelight tensed, her whole body going numb. Speckledpaw was her only surviving kit, and their bond was stronger than the Highledge itself. Riverwind pressed her muzzle against her friend's shoulder as Pinelight dug her claws into the hard earth beneath her paws. She was furious. When Phantomstar called the senior warriors together for an emergency meeting, she paced endlessly back and forth, tail lashing violently.

"I'll flay them! I swear to StarClan I will!" she spat out vehemently. Phantomstar firmly forbidden her to take any rash action, which only incensed her more.

"That's my kit out there, Phantomstar! My only daughter! She could be dying and you're sitting around her making a plan. I think the plan is pretty simple: we gather up all our best warriors and show those pieces of fox dung what Clan cats are capable of!" she snarled, pushing herself into the large black tom's face. Phantomstar had remained icily calm.

"No. We must think this through carefully. These rogues aren't stupid; you saw how effectively they ambushed that patrol. Snowfang and Poppyclaw are some of the best ThunderClan has to offer and they were nearly torn to shreds." Pinelight had bristled for a moment longer before drawing herself up to full height and glaring frostily at her leader.

"Fine. Sit here and exchange words with one another about the 'best plan'. Meanwhile, my daughter is out there, alone, being held prisoner by a bunch of lawless brutes." She flung the words into their tense, frustrated faces before turning and stalking away. When nightfall came, she snuck away. Her mind had been made up. No matter what it took, she would get her daughter home.

Moonlight streamed across the hard stone Twoleg path that cut through swaths of brittle leafbare underbrush. Pinelight padded softly over the black surface, her eyes darting warily back and forth. Her mouth was slightly agape, drawing in the cold, crisp air as she crept cautiously towards the abandoned Twoleg nest in the heart of ThunderClan territory. Her amber eyes were hard and focused, though her paws trembled with fear with every step. The closer she got to the nest, the more she wondered why she was doing this. She would think of her daughter then and force herself to keep going. She would do anything to free her daughter from those rogues. Their scent grew stronger until it was almost nauseating. Swallowing her fear, Pinelight strode with forced confidence toward the ramshackle structure.

"You Clan cats never learn, do ya?" A hiss sounded in her left ear, startling her. She jumped about a fox length into the air and whirled around, claws unsheathed.

"Don't touch me!" she warned, hoping she sounded less scared than she really was. The speaker chuckled, the sound rough and gravelly. It grated in her ears and she flattened them to try to block it out.

"Who's gonna stop me?" he asked her, his husky voice dripping with amusement. Pinelight faltered, not really knowing how to respond without sounding pathetic. The rogue laughed again and stepped forward into the light. He was a huge black brute, with a missing eye and a torn ear. His pelt was marred with countless scars, all in varying sizes and shapes.

"That's what I thought. Name's Coal. What 'bout you? You got a name, sweetheart?" he asked, circling her slowly. Pinelight swallowed hard, careful not to let him out of her line of vision.

"Pinelight." She kept her reply short and clipped so as to hide the gut wrenching panic that was gripping her.

"What's a pretty cat like you doin' out here all alone? No, wait. Lemme guess. You're here for that young'n, ain't ya?" Pinelight gulped. Some part of her mind commented that his way of speaking was rather irritating, though she quickly silenced that voice. Now was not the time to be focusing on his mannerisms.

"Let me speak to your leader," she mewed, lifting her chin. He smirked at her, still circling around her.

"Why should I?" he challenged, pausing to face her head on as she glared at him.

"Because I know how to fight. We're trained very young to defeat any opponent, including big, brawny beasts like yourself," she retorted. Coal scoffed, but his eyes were slightly wary. He knew she wasn't bluffing; she may have been a she-cat, but he could see the muscles beneath her sleek pelt. She was small, but tough, and he really didn't want to press his luck.

"She ain't gonna like bein' bothered at this time o' night…" he grumbled. Pinelight unsheathed her claws, taking a step toward him.

"Do you really think I care?" Coal studied the angry dark brown she-cat in front of him. By her ferocity and looks, he figured she was the young she-cat's mother. Even he, big as he was, knew to fear a mother defending her kit. He wasn't afraid of her, but he knew he shouldn't mess with her too much, if only for the risk of ruining his good looks. Pinelight glared unwaveringly at him, a low growl rumbling deep in her throat.

"Fine, fine. I'll take ya to see 'er. But I'm warnin' you now, sweetheart: she ain't gonna be as nice as I am." Pinelight scoffed, eyes glittering defiantly.

"I can handle myself. Besides, why do you care?" she snapped, her tail tip twitching. Coal chuckled and moved towards her. His face was close enough that she could smell the stink of his breath.

"'Cuz I don't wanna see a looker like you ruin your looks…" he breathed, bathing her face in his atrocious odor. She coughed and took a step backwards, tail lashing angrily.

"Come with me." Turning towards the Twoleg nest, Coal led her through the underbrush to where his leader was. Pinelight followed, claws still out, her eyes darting cautiously around her. Everywhere she looked, rogue cats stared at her with malicious amusement. She steeled herself and lifted her chin, forcing herself to look confident. If she looked even the slightest bit intimidated, they would take advantage of that. These were cats without honor; they would stoop to any level to humiliate her.

Stepping inside the abandoned nest, Pinelight was nearly knocked off her paws by the overpowering stench of carrion. Gagging, she stared around the room in search of the source. Prey carcasses were strewn randomly around the rotting wood floor in various states of decay. Swallowing her bile, Pinelight trotted after Coal as he led her through a doorway and into the room beyond. She was surprised to see a tiny, snow-white she-cat sitting on a moldering soft Twoleg boulder, licking her paw delicately. The she-cat was rather pretty and looked completely harmless. However, when she looked up, Pinelight could see the ice in her amber eyes and knew that she wasn't nearly as innocent as she appeared. Leaping down from the boulder, the she-cat stalked across the room, her eyes fixing on Pinelight with a coldly calculating stare.

"Who is this?" she asked in a clear, almost angelic voice. Coal opened his mouth to reply, but Pinelight cut in.

"My name is Pinelight." She met the she-cat's stare unwaveringly, desperately trying to hide her fear.

"You're a Clan cat. You're here for the young one." The white she-cat spoke it as a statement, as if it were an obvious fact. Pinelight nodded, choosing not to reply verbally.

"You're very brave, coming here alone. I suspect the only reason you're unharmed is because Coal is a sucker for pretty she-cats." The tiny rogue turned her icy eyes on the huge black tom, who ducked his head like a scolded apprentice.

"The prisoner's 'er daughter, Sugar," Coal murmured. At first, Pinelight assumed that 'Sugar' had been a term of endearment. However, it seemed that it was the she-cat's name. She had to fight away the urge to laugh. A cat named Sugar, defending a Clan of rogues? It would've been funny, but given the circumstances, she held her tongue. Laughing would not be a wise choice in the slightest.

"Yes, I know that, Coal. What do you take me for, a fool?" Sugar growled, eyes flashing dangerously. Coal flinched, obviously frightened by her. Pinelight bit her tongue again. This whole situation was almost a joke, though in very poor taste.

"'Course not, Sugar…" Sugar rolled her eyes, clearly annoyed.

"Get out of my face, Coal," she spat, lashing her tail. Coal dipped his head hastily before turning and trotting out of the nest. When he'd gone, the white she-cat returned her icy gaze to Pinelight.

"I suspect you're acting alone. Otherwise, you wouldn't be so jumpy." Pinelight felt a slight tremor. Despite her best efforts, it seemed that Sugar could sense her fear.

"My Clan doesn't know I'm here." Sugar nodded, her expression disturbingly calm. The dark brown warrior decided that, since she was already at the mercy of this tiny cat, she may as well make herself even more vulnerable.

"Please… Speckledpaw is my only daughter… I'll do anything." Sugar stared at her, obviously unsurprised by her pleading.

"Anything?" the white cat asked suspiciously. Pinelight felt apprehension settle in her belly, but she nodded all the same. Sugar came closer, her eyes fixed on the warrior's.

"I will let her go… If you take her place." Though she'd known it would be something along those lines, Pinelight still felt dread fall heavily onto her.

"Take her place… As in become your prisoner?" Sugar nodded, her eyes glittering with cold amusement. Pinelight could see she was enjoying this immensely and was nauseated by it.

"How long?" Pinelight couldn't help but ask the question. Sugar laughed, as if she'd been expecting it.

"Indefinitely." Came the dreaded, though anticipated, response. Pinelight was torn. She loved her daughter more than anything in the world, but her Clan needed her. The white rogue eyed her with feigned sympathy.

"Maybe it will help you to decide if you see her. Stick! Ash!" Sugar barked sharply, turning around to face corner of the room that was completely shrouded in shadow. Two identical gray toms stepped from the corner, eyes blank and flat. Pinelight stared at them with wide, wary eyes, wondering how she hadn't noticed them before.

"Fetch the prisoner." Sugar turned her gaze back to the warrior, a smirk on her face. The toms nodded in unison and disappeared back into the shadows. A few moments, later, the sound of scuffing pawsteps became audible. Pinelight's ears pricked up as the tomcats returned, Speckledpaw between them. Her daughter looked horrible. Her pelt was matted and dirty. One eye was swollen shut and oozed pus. Her body was crisscrossed with scars from the fight the day before. The apprentice breathed in shallow, unsteady gasps and she seemed unable to support her own weight. It was obvious that she was badly wounded and desperately needed a medicine cat. The toms dragged her to the center of the floor and dumped her unceremoniously on the dusty ground. Immediately, Pinelight rushed to her daughter's side, fussing anxiously over still-bleeding wounds. The apprentice struggled to turn her face to look at her mother.

"Mom?" she asked faintly, her one good eye glazed over and disoriented. Pinelight licked her daughter's cheek lovingly, her eyes bright with relief. Speckledpaw was alive, if only barely.

"You'll be okay now… I'm here…" Pinelight whispered, voice choked. She knew immediately what her choice would be.

"What a touching reunion," Sugar drawled scathingly behind her. Giving her daughter's face another lick, the warrior stood to face the rogue.

"What'll it be, Pinelight? Your freedom, or hers?" Pinelight glanced back at her daughter and back at Sugar, her eyes pained.

"Hers." Sugar looked unsurprised. She simply nodded, as if it had been obvious.

"Very well. I'll have Coal return your daughter safely to your Clan." The black tom materialized in the doorway, like he'd been waiting for his cue to return. Crossing the room in a few steps, he scooped Speckledpaw up in his powerful jaws. The limp, half-conscious apprentice dangled a mouse-length from the floor. Pinelight watched as she was carried away, feeling the two gray tomcats step up beside her.

"I sincerely hope you don't regret your decision. Take her away." Sugar turned away as Stick and Ash each gave Pinelight a shove simultaneously, sending her reeling toward the corner. She looked back over her shoulder to watch Coal disappear with her daughter, hoping that Speckledpaw would forgive her for abandoning her.

_StarClan give me strength, _she prayed, allowing herself to be led through a hole in the floor and into a tunnel.

A moon later, Sugar sat on her boulder, grooming her pelt. Her tail twitched as she thought of the prisoner in the tunnels below her. No Clan cat had ever come looking for their lost warrior, which Sugar found rather humorous. They had likely given up any hope on rescuing Pinelight before she died. The white she-cat chuckled to herself. She knew that Pinelight was alive, if unhealthy, and in captivity.

She never really knew why she'd made the deal. Sugar paused in her grooming to ponder this. Perhaps it was just a moment of pity for the dying young cat in the tunnels. The little cat had looked wretched when she'd been brought out. Seeing how desperate Pinelight was to save her precious kit had been rather amusing. Clan cats were so predictable… But why had she made the offer? Sugar shrugged. It wasn't really all that important. She had simply assumed that the Clan cats would come to rescue their lost warrior. They hadn't, obviously, but it was still worth making the deal. She decided that she had, in fact, felt bad for the first she-cat. She had been very young and already hurt; quite at a disadvantage for surviving in captivity. Pinelight, however, was strong. She would make a valuable member of their rogue band, once she'd been sufficiently brainwashed. Yes, that's why she had done it. To gain an inside source on how to infiltrate the Clan. It was all about power, as always. Everything had gone smoothly, and she had come out on top.

With that question solved, Sugar returned to her grooming. She would have the twins bring Pinelight out again for questioning. The ex-warrior hadn't been cooperative the last time, but after a few days without food, Sugar was reasonably sure she would comply the second time. If not, the punishment would continue until the prisoner _did_ relent. Sugar laughed softly as she drew one paw over her ear.

Perhaps this whole situation could be fun.

Pinelight stared blankly into the endless black. Great StarClan, but she was hungry. Since she had refused to answer any questions about ThunderClan, she had been denied any food. She still had enough sense left to know that they would continue the punishment until she cracked.

Down in the tunnels, she'd had plenty of time to think. Her mind was mostly on her daughter. Had she survived? Pinelight would give her tail to see her again, to say she was sorry. She could not say, however, that she regretted making the deal. Better a warrior than an apprentice.

Pinelight scratched her claws aimlessly in the mud under her paws. She'd given up pacing, as she'd need her strength. Most days, she sat still and thought. The dark drove her into her own mind, giving her some sort of escape from the confined tunnel.

She couldn't say she was happy with the outcome. She was a prisoner of a band of rogues; what sane cat would be happy with that situation? But she would rather be stuck down here, hungry and bored out of her mind, than have her daughter in her place. She hoped that Sugar was happy with what had come from their pact. Some cat should benefit.

Light suddenly flooded the tunnel, causing Pinelight to flinch from the sudden brightness. One of the toms- she still couldn't tell them apart- padded down and gestured vaguely with his head, indicating wordlessly that she should follow. Getting to her paws, she padded slowly after him, her head down. Her legs felt shaky and her stomach rumbled. This time, she would answer the questions.

Speckledpaw padded through the forest after Phantomstar. She had healed nicely once she'd been returned home. No cat had gone out after Pinelight; it was assumed that she was dead. Speckledpaw missed her mother, but she couldn't bring herself to believe she'd died. It would be much too unfair.

The white-speckled apprentice paused to taste the air, her ears pricked up warily. Phantomstar was taking her toward the Twoleg nest, by the smell of it. Panic welled up in her stomach and she shook momentarily. The leader paused in his steady pace and looked back at her, sympathy bright in his pale gaze.

"You must face your fears at some point, you know," he mewed gently. Speckledpaw nodded, her paws still trembling. Reluctantly, she followed him, her mouth constantly open as she tasted the air. The rogues' scent was overpowering and she wrinkled her nose. Her claws itched to slide out as she remembered the ambush that had been laid for them.

"Phantomstar, why are we going this way?" she asked, cursing the tremor in her voice. Her leader looked over his shoulder at her.

"To make sure they haven't come any farther," was his response. Speckledpaw sighed and her thoughts wandered back to her mother.

She could vaguely remember being in the tunnels. Most of the time, she'd drifted in and out of consciousness. Being awake had been painful and she had come to look forward to the periods of unfeeling that came with drifting. She had been dying; even then, she'd known it. Her mother had given up everything to save her life.

Speckledpaw only wished she could thank her.


End file.
